This invention relates to filling heads for bottling machines. Specifically, this invention relates to a telescoping filling head which extends from its rest position in two stages, diminishing the need to elevate the bottle onto the nozzle. This filling head may be used to retrofit an existing machine to improve performance when adequate elevation of the existing filling head cannot be obtained. In addition this filling head may be incorporated into new machines to speed up the rate at which liquid can be dispensed into the bottles.
Liquid filling heads for rotary filling devices are known in the prior art. When a rotary filling device is used in a traditional manufacturing environment, each bottle is elevated to a bottle guide on the filling head. The bottle is held between a bottle guide and a support plate while the bottle is filled using a nozzle which extends through, or is flush with, the bottle guide. This traditional setup is difficult to use to fill tall bottles with liquids, as the liquids tend to foam. To minimize foaming, a longer nozzle can be used, which can be placed closer to the bottom of the bottle and thus submerged in the liquid. If a longer nozzle is used, however, the bottle must be moved under the nozzle and lifted a distance slightly greater than the desired nozzle depth in the bottle. Another option is to introduce the liquid more slowly through a shorter nozzle, which does not extend as deeply into the bottle.
In an existing filling device the amount a bottle can be elevated is limited by the structure of the machine. Thus it may be impossible, particularly when filling tall bottles, to use any currently available longer nozzle to avoid the problem of foaming during filling. This is because there is often insufficient room to lift the bottle enough to accommodate a nozzle that is long enough to dispense the liquid at an appropriate depth. Therefore manufacturers have been forced to use shorter nozzles, which require elevating the bottle less. The use of a shorter nozzle requires that the liquid be dispensed into the bottle at a much slower rate. In addition, when a shorter nozzle must be used with a bottle with a long neck, the longest nozzle that may be accommodated in the existing structure of the filling device may not reach below the neck of the bottle. Because of this, the liquid must be introduced at an even slower rate. These practices increase production costs for the product.
Thus there is a need for a filling head for a rotary filling device which requires only minimal elevation of the bottle and which has a nozzle that can extend deep into the bottle opening during the filling process.
In addition, even where the existing structure of the rotary filling device does not limit the amount the bottle can be elevated, the process of elevating the bottle, and precisely guiding a protruding nozzle into the bottle, slows the filling process. Thus there is a need for a filling head for a rotary filling device which requires minimal or no elevation, which enables faster filling of the bottle, and which may be utilized on either an existing or a newly manufactured machine.
It is an object of an exemplary form of the present invention to provide a filling head for a rotary filling device which requires minimal elevation of the bottle.
It is an object of an exemplary form of the present invention to provide a filling head for a rotary filling device which permits the insertion of the filling head nozzle into the bottle to a depth greater than the bottle elevation.
It is a further object of an exemplary form of the present invention to provide a filling head for a rotary filling device that permits the introduction of foaming liquids into a bottle more quickly than the currently available filling heads.
It is a further object of an exemplary form of the present invention to provide a filling head for a filling device which can precisely direct the product flow toward the shoulders of the bottle being filled.
It is a further object of an exemplary form of the present invention to provide a filling head for a rotary filling device in which the nozzle depth can be precisely adjusted for use with bottles which have different neck and shoulder configurations.
It is an object of an exemplary form of the present invention to provide a filling head for a rotary filling device that can be retrofitted onto an existing machine.
It is an object of an exemplary form of the present invention to provide a filling head for a filling device that can be used with newly manufactured machines.
It is a further object of an exemplary form of the present invention to provide a filling head that performs the functions described above and that can be fitted to a non-rotary filling device.
Further objects of exemplary forms of the present invention will be made apparent in the following Best Modes For Carrying Out Invention and the appended claims.
The foregoing objects are accomplished in an exemplary embodiment by a filling head which comprises a two-stage telescoping nozzle attached to a nozzle block which may be driven by a pneumatic cylinder. The filling head may be used to dispense liquids into bottles as part of the manufacturing process. The use of the descriptive references herein to bottle is not intended to exclude using a telescoping filling head to fill containers other than bottles. In an exemplary embodiment of this invention, the filling head may be attached to a rotary filling device. In other embodiments, it may be attached to an inline filling device.
In an exemplary embodiment, the bottle to be filled moves toward the filling device. Once it is aligned with the filling head, it may be elevated so that the lip of the bottle is brought flush with a bottle guide that may be attached to the filling head. The lift plate, which elevates the bottle, may hold the bottle tight against the bottle guide during the filling process. In other embodiments, the lip of the bottle may or may not contact the bottle guide, and the bottle may be held stable by other means, with or without elevation.
In an exemplary embodiment once the bottle is seated and secured, a two-part inner nozzle unit may begin to telescope into the opening of the bottle, initially, both parts of the inner nozzle unit move together into the opening in the bottle. The two-part inner nozzle unit may be located inside an outer nozzle. The motion of the outer part of the inner nozzle unit may be stopped when outer flanges on one end butt against the inner end of the outer nozzle. The inner part of the inner nozzle unit continues to move and to slide through the outer part of the inner nozzle unit. When it is fully telescoped, apertures on the inner part of the inner nozzle unit may be revealed. The telescoping movement of the nozzle may be caused by a driving arm that may be attached to a pneumatic cylinder. Although in this exemplary embodiment, the device that powers the driving arm may be a pneumatic cylinder, it should be understood that in other embodiments it may be powered by hydraulic devices, electromechanical devices, or any other device that may be operable to extend and retrieve a telescoping nozzle.
The outer nozzle may be attached to a nozzle block. In this exemplary embodiment, the nozzle block contains an inlet for the introduction of liquids to be dispensed. That inlet may be in fluid connection with a passage through the nozzle block which has an outlet to the outer nozzle. Liquid may flow from the inlet through the nozzle block, into the outer nozzle, into the outer part of the inner nozzle unit, and through the apertures in the inner part of the inner nozzle unit into the bottle. In this exemplary embodiment, there may be one inlet to the nozzle block. In other embodiments there may be more than one inlet to the nozzle block so that more than one kind of liquid may be dispensed, or the same kind of liquid may be dispensed from more than one source.
In an exemplary embodiment, once the bottle is filled, the inner nozzle unit may be pneumatically retracted. It retracts in the reverse order in which it telescoped. Once the telescoping nozzle has been retracted, the bottle can be removed from the filling station. In an exemplary embodiment the bottle may be lowered, which releases it. In other embodiments the release process may include lifting the filling head or releasing the bottle from a holding mechanism.
An adjustable bumper stud may be attached to the surface of the nozzle block, on the side opposite the outer nozzle. The driving arm butts against the bumper stud at the bottom of the telescoping stroke, stopping the telescoping motion of the inner nozzle unit. In an exemplary embodiment in which the lip of the bottle may be held against a bottle guide, the depth to which the nozzle may be inserted in the bottle is approximately equal to the distance between the top of the bumper stud and the base of the driving arm. In other embodiments, in which the bottle guide hovers above the lip of the bottle, the depth of insertion will be slightly less.
Adjustments may be made to the depth of the nozzle insertion by adjusting the height of the bumper stud. In an exemplary embodiment, in which the bottle guide holds the bottle, minor adjustments to the depth of the nozzle insertion may also be made by adjusting the bottle guide position with respect to the outer nozzle.
In an exemplary embodiment, the orientation of the apertures in the perforated portion of the inner nozzle unit may be fixed by means of a ring attached to the top of a nozzle holder. The ring on the nozzle holder contains detents on its upper surface, near the edge, into which a spring plunger may be snapped to fix the position. In other embodiments, there may be other mechanisms for selecting and adjusting the orientation of the apertures in the perforated portion of the inner nozzle. In addition the filling head may be fitted with two springs, which bias the filling head to return it to the closed position in the event the driving device fails.